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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. 0. P. HODSDON. PORTABLE HOUSE.

No. 507,680. Patented Oct. 31,1893.

(No Model.) I 2 Sheets$heet 2.

I G. F. H ODSDON.

PORTABLE HOUSE.

No. 507,680. Patented Oct. 31, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. HODSDON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PORTABLE HOUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 507,680, dated October 31, 1893.

Application filed May 12, 1893- Serial No. 473,937- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES FRED HODS- DON, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Portable Houses, of which the following is a specification.

Several varieties of portable wooden houses have heretofore been made, the same being, adapted to disconnection, packing and transportation and being put together with facility at the place where such portable house is to be used.

My present invention relates to the details of construction and combination hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Portable Woodenhouses are advantageously covered with sheet iron to form the roof and the sections composing my portable house are made with reference to the sizes of the sheets of iron and so that parts or sections are available with houses of difierent sizes. Having this object in view I find it advantageous to twelve feet wide, or else sixteen or twenty feet long and twelve feet wide, or a square of twelve by twelve feet, and in constructing the gable ends of the building I provide two sections that are closed in byboarding to form the ends of the building under the roof and I employ one, two, three or more intermediate rafters according to the size of the building, and movable sections are employed adapted to extend from the sills to the plates and provided with battens and angle pieces so as to be connected together with facility and to form arigid structure well adapted to camping or mining purposes where a temporary building is of advantage rather than a tent.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of one end of the house. Fig. 2 is aplan view with portions of the roof and of the rafters removed. Fig. 3 represents one of the rafters. Fig. 4 is an elevation of one of the side sections. Fig. 5 is a section of one of the gables at the line w 90, Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section in larger size of one angle of the house. Fig. 7 is a vertical section of one of the sills and the bottom of one of the movable sections. Fig. 8 is a plan of the sills at one cornor, and Fig. 9 is a section throughone of the partitions.

The end sills A and the side sills B are mortised and set together at the corners and there are intermediate sills 0, preferably three in number with tenons passing into mortises in the end sills, and the upper surfaces of the end sills A and side'sills B are grooved for the reception of the lower edges of the side and end sections, and the floor is composed of the sectionsD of boards extending across the building and having battens nailed on the under sides, the ends of the boards and sections resting upon the top surfaces of the side sills and the edges of the end sections of the floor resting upon the top inner edges of the end sills A; and 1t is advantageous to make these sections of the floor four feet wide so as to employ six of said sections for the floor of a building twentyfour feet long, and it is also advantageous to make use of side sections four feet wide so that they can b'made use of with a building twenty-four feet long, twenty, sixteen or I twelve feet.

make the house twenty-four feet long and boards 2 with bottom battens 3, top battens 4 and usually an intermediate batten 5, and the Each side section E is made of vertical diagonal battens 6 serve to stiffen the sections and prevent the parts getting out of square. 1 There are also exterior vertical battens 7 applied upon one edge of each section, and the ipartsare so constructed that the bottom battens 3 of the sections pass into the grooves 8 in the upper surface of the side sills and the exterior Vertical battens pass down outside of the side sills B and not only strengthen the parts but allow for the insertion of nails or screws to connect the lower ends of the vertical battens 7 with the side sills B; and I remark that where nails are used it is advantageous to leave the heads projecting sufficiently for the easy withdrawal of such nails when the building is to be taken apart.

The end sections and the, side sections are made in the same manner, and where the end battens are four feet wide they allow for the introduction of a central door at the end of the building and for suitable windows; but it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the measurements herein named and intend to vary the same as necessity may require.

The side sections E and the end sections F that come together at the corners of the building, are provided with the battens 9 and 10 which are fastened on in the manner indi' cated in Figs. 2 and 6,so that the edge of one Vertical board comes against the side of the other, and the batten 9 upon the end section F comes against the edge of the board of the side section E and the edge of that batten 9 comes against the side of the batten 10 upon the end section E, so as to make the corner tight and at the same time cause one part to help support the other.

It is to be understood that the door G is to be introduced in a frame having an exterio or outline corresponding to one of the sec. tions, there being a lintel at the top formed by the batten l0 and a sill at the bottom formed by the batten sill 12, and to one of the uprights or jambs 13 the door G is hinged, and this door advantageously opens inwardly, and it is also advantageous to employ hooks and eyesl i at the angles to hook the sections together and hold them in position after they havebeen set up and while the plates H or upper frames are placed upon the top ends of the side sections E. These plates are grooved at 15 to receive the top edges of the top battens 4, and the top ends of the vertical battens 7 lap upon the surfaces of the plates H so that they can be secured together by nails or screws.

The intermediate rafters I are preferably constructed with the lower cords or planks 16, the diagonal rafters 17, vertical posts 18 and the lapping strips 19 that are employed to unite the upper ends of the rafter pieces 17 and the vertical posts 18, anti the ends of the intermediate rafters I are received into notches in the upper surfaces of the plates H, and according to the size of the building so there may be one, two or more intermediate rafters I, and to close the gable ends of the building above the end sections F, I make use of end gables K having plates 20 that are grooved at 45 and receive the upper ends of the boards or the battens 4 in the end sections F, and there are inclined rafter pieces 21 and a lapping strip 22 and post 23 and clapboarding or planking at 2t so as to close in the respective ends of the building at the gables, and the end gables and the rafters are notched to set over the plates H and interlock with such plates at the places where the plates are notched so that the under surface of the roofing coincides or nearly so with the top edges of the plates H.

In making the roof it is advantageous to employ the longitudinal slats L let into notches in the respective rafters, and it is advantageous to make use of two of these longitudinal slats at each side of the roof, and the roof itself may be made of wood or of metal and rest upon the longitudinal slats L and upon the top outer edges of the plates H, but as aforesaid it is preferable to employ sheet iron for the roof, the sheets of iron M being of such a size that the hollow flanges at one edge will lap upon the flanges at the edge of the adjacent sheet so as to make the roof tight between one sheet and the. next, and these sheets forming the roof may be connected in any desired manner with the longitudinal slats and with the edges of the plates. It is usually advantageous to employ strips of metal R attached near the edges of the sheets and adapted to hook into contact and be fastened to the longitudinal slats and to the plates respectively. It will be observed that the longitudinal slats L are near the ridge of the building but not directly at the ridge, and it is advantageous to employ either a rigid bar N covering the upper ends .of the sections forming the covering or roof, such rigid bar being adapted to lap upon the roof sections and being secured at the under side in any suitable manner, or else the edges of the sheets may be folded and form interlocking flanges.

The windows, one of which is shown at P are advantageously made of movable sashes introduced between the top batten at and intermediate batten 5, the boarding of the section being left out at the place where the window sash is introduced.

As represented in Fig. 4, it is advantageous to apply the battens 3,4 and5 in such a manner that the battens on one section project and lap upon the boarding of the next section, such batten being of a length corresponding to the width of each section, so that the ends of the battens set back from the edges of the boarding at one edge of the section and project beyond the edge of the boarding at the other end of said section, so as to lap upon the board of the next section; and it is advantageous that the projecting ends of the battens come adjacent to the exterior vertical batten 7, so that the edge of the board in the next section is slipped in between the vertical batten and the projecting ends of the horizontal battens upon the adjacent section.

In cases where the house is built of cedar it is not liable to harbor vermin.

Vith a house twenty-four feet 1ong,it may be divided up by transverse partitions into three or four rooms, and a twenty foot house may be divided up into two or three rooms; and it is advantageous to dispose the win- (lows in such of the sections as will afford the light and ventilation for the respective rooms. The partitions, as at V, Figs. 2 and 9, that are provided for separating the building transversely into rooms should be made similar to the ends in sections and the rafters that are over the partitions may be closed in the same manner as the gable ends and receive the upper ends of the partitions, and cleats 1; (see Fig. 9) may be nailed to the floor for the lower ends of the sections or partition boards.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with the end sill mortiscd, of the side and intermediate sills with tenons to pass into the mortises, the end and side sills being grooved upon their upper surfaces, side and end sections for the building,

- each section being formed of vertical boards and top and bottom battens, the bottom battens being received in the grooves in the top surfaces of the sills, plates grooved upon their under surfaces and receiving the top battens of the sections, and the exterior vertical battens secured to the respective sections and lapping at their top and bottom ends upon the sills and plates respectively so as to be secured thereto, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the floor sills, side and end sections in a portable building, of end gables having grooves on their under edges for the reception of the upper ends of the end sections, plates extending from one end gable to another, and intermediate rafters, the plates and the rafters being notched to interlock with each other, longitudinal slats connecting the end gables and intermediate rafters, and movable roof sections-supported by the rafters and longitudinal slats, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with the floor sills, side and end sections in a portable building, of end gables having grooves on their under edges for the reception of the upper ends of the end sections, plates extending from one end gable to another, and intermediate rafters, the plates and the rafters being notched 30 sections formed of vertical boards, bottom and top battens of the same length as the width of the section and connected with the vertical boards so that the ends of the battens near one edge of the section project beyond the edge of the vertical boards, and a vertical batten upon the outer surface of the section at the edge thereof adjacent to theprojecting ends of the horizontal battens, such vertical batten projecting at its ends above and below the section so as to be adapted to the reception of nails or screws for fastening the batten to the sill and to the plate respectively, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 5th day of May, 1893.

O. F'. HODSDON.

Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINCKNEY, A. M. OLIVER. 

